December: Denver + Louis XIV Takes a Trip!

Family Travel (me): Denver

I made a visit to Denver in early December since I hadn't had my traditional Halloween time visit to see A, R, F, and C. The real treat this time was being able to attend the statewide robotics competition, since A's team from Evergreen Country Day had qualified at their regional competition. A, F, and C picked me up at the airport on Friday evening and we had a fun dinner at Sushi-Rama in Aurora on the way to their house. 

A had to be up and out early on Saturday morning to meet up with her team, so I had some great morning time with F and C before R got up for breakfast. We all headed to the competition site, and I spend the rest of the day there with A and her team while R took care of the boys. The really great things was that A's team won second prize for Best Robot Design -- so cool! After the competition wrapped up, I headed out with A and her colleague to celebrate. They enjoyed their well-deserved margaritas and we all had some yummy Mexican food before relaxing at her colleague's nearby apartment and working on a Flashdance puzzle (almost finished by the time we left!). 

On Sunday, we just relaxed at the house, spent time in the park with the puppy, and enjoyed some quiet family time with everyone doing their own thing but still being present together in the same space. Lovely!

Family Travel (Mr. E) + Holiday Travel (with Louis XIV!): Chicago + Austin

Mr. E headed back to Chicago the weekend before Christmas to spend some time with his Mom. He was able to see her safely off at the airport on Friday for her trip to San Jose for the holidays with her sister and brother-in-law, and then he met up with Louis XIV and me in Austin. Yep, Louis XIV was a travelin' cat! He was so chill and appeared to enjoy our time in the Escape Lounge at SMF prior to boarding our flight.

Unfortunately, our direct flight on Southwest was a little delayed taking off and then further delayed by having to sit on the tarmac for 45 minutes waiting for a gate to open up once we reached Austin. And then another 45 minutes to claim my checked bag. Arrgh! I had to check a bag this time around since Louis XIV was a cabin pet. He fit just fine under the seat in front of me, but I pulled out the carrier and held it on my lap most of the time so that he could better see me. This was probably more about me than about him!!!

We stayed at the Residence Inn Austin Southwest, a perfect spot in between my sister's and my Mom's that gave us a great jumping off point for various family activities. Our suite had big windows overlooking the fields and houses behind the hotel rather than the highway in front of the hotel, which provided Louis XIV with some good views from the windowsills. 

When we got to the hotel, Mr. E went out to fetch dinner, drinks, and snacks while I got Louis XIV settled into the room. I had an entire separate packing list for him to make sure I didn't forget anything! Collapsible litter box, bag of litter pellets, litter scoop, poop bags, collapsible food & water bowls, bag of food, kitty bed, tunnel toy, bird on a string toy, and several of his other favorite toys. He was a really good traveler, and it was so delightful to have him with us in the hotel (except for that one night when he turned uber-gremlin for about 90 minutes around 2:00am... yikes!).

I wasn't able to swim in the lovely outdoor infinity pool because it wasn't heated and the weather in Austin had plummeted just a few days before we arrived. But we did take advantage of the buffet breakfast each day, including one day when J brought C over in the morning to eat with us and meet Louis XIV. And we had Mom over for lunch one day so that she could meet our new kitty as well.

One new thing we discovered about our boy is that he likes some screen time! He was particularly fascinated by the dog agility competition, and we also found some fun YouTube cat videos to keep him company when we were away.

He definitely made himself right at home in the hotel room, even snuggling into a pillow fort on the bed with some stuffed friends.

We enjoyed all of our holiday festivities with my family. Mr. E and I did our now-traditional Christmas Eve dinner preparation while everyone else went to church. 

He also repeated his Christmas Day breakfast special of biscuits and gravy, with C's assistance as sous-chef, using some of the rib roast leftovers to provide the protein. The weather was warmer at this point, so we were able to spend quite a bit of time outdoors at the Amenity Center, playing Frisbee and soccer and letting the dogs roam around in the new dog run.

Our short visit intended for just the few days of the Christmas weekend ended up getting extended due to disrupted travel on both United (Mr. E) and Southwest (me)! We were all scheduled to return to Sac on Monday 12/26, but... Mr. E and Louis XIV made it home the night of Tuesday 12/27, and I finally managed to join them by late afternoon on Wednesday 12/28. Good thing, too, since we had to catch a flight to Vancouver for New Year's Eve mid-afternoon on Thursday 12/29!